Category Archives: Issue III

Why Civility is Worth Defending By Ryan Lindsey What do you do with the mad that you feel When you feel so mad you could bite? When the whole wide world seems oh, so wrong… And nothing you do seems very right? What do you do? Do you punch a bag? Do you pound someContinue reading “In Defense of Rogerism”

Few issues provoke such strict battle lines to be drawn within the libertarian movement as the Electoral College. Moreover, unlike the few similarly-contentious topics, opinions on the Electoral College do not even seem to track to obvious differences in ideology or worldview (e.g. leftism vs. capitalism, incrementalism vs. vanguardism, moderation vs. radicalism, or even social progressivism vs. social conservatism). It seems odd there could simultaneously be strong libertarian arguments for both mutually exclusive sides of this single issue, but that’s because, simply put, there are not. Any “libertarian” argument in its favor is nothing more than a false or mistaken application of libertarian principles.

The left has been suspicious of private property since Pierre-Joseph Proudhon brazenly declared it to be nothing more than theft in 1840. His friend, Karl Marx, saw it as the root of capitalism’s exploitation, a superfluous invention of the bourgeoisie that would be dispensed with in the future. Anarchists’ generally see it as an agent of control. Even the most sympathetic socialists treat private property as a necessary evil. Those on the left who refuse to denounce private property are all-too-quickly labeled as faux-socialists, unwitting capitalist apologists, or even disingenuous counter-revolutionary agents.

The very first part of this very first Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Of all of the rights deemed untouchable by government within the Bill of Rights, this was deemed the most important right of all, even before speech and press. But in spite of its founding, the United States did not become a place of freedom for believers until recently. This unparalleled strength was not handed to us, it came through bloodshed, martyrdom, and massacres.

By Ryan Lindsey (Letter from the Editor for Issue III) I owe all of this magazine’s readers an apology. I let the tentative quarterly schedule for WAL Reader fall apart,and the original October 2019 release date for this issue has long since passed. I apologize for not publishing this issue before now. I had severalContinue reading “Issue III Now Available!”